TYPES OF THE VBCW (19) : STAFF OFFICER

Every VBCW Platoon needs a "Staff Officer" - someone who might just know where the Platoon is within the County, and where it might usefully go to. Often operating as the "No.2" to an inevitably charismatic Platoon Commander, here is a nice 28mm Staff Officer type:

VBCW (probably Royalist) Staff Officer, complete with detailed folding map.
From the Gripping Beast WW1 Pilots Pack, painted (many years ago!)
by Rob Bresnan (aka Comrade Colonel Professor Winters aka 
Roderick Spode, 7th Earl Sidcup aka etc. etc.)

With his bushy blonde waxed moustache, this Staff Officer might even serve as a 28mm personality figure, none other than a VBCW type "Lord Flashheart" (although, in those circumstances, the map might have to be repainted with a quite different kind of "centrefold"):

Staff Officer ? Some kind of joke ? Lord Flashheart takes over command of the Platoon.

28MM STALIN

Now that the contents of his (second) secret freighter have been delivered to Herefordshire, it's time to ask a critical VBCW question : who makes the best 28mm Stalin miniature ?

C-P Models Stalin. Unknown painter.

Part of C-P Models WW2 Leaders Personality Pack. Late war Adolf and a 
very nice miniature of Churchill "in naval mode".

Woodbine Designs SMG Stalin and aide

Black Tree Design (ex-Harlequin) Stalin painted in "Potsdam" uniform

"Potsdam Uniform" reference shot.

"Summer Uniform" BTD Stalin posed together with Colonel Comrade Professor Winters
(another BTD ex Harlequin figure). Painted by "bonoborc"

All good figures, and all we can say is that "the best" is in the eye of the beholder.....

A typical 1930s Poster of Stalin, surrounded by Soviet military
aid on its way to the Presteigne Soviet.

TYPES OF THE VBCW (4) - THE PUZZLED INTELLECTUAL

 An occasional series of painted 28mm VBCW archetypes

Another VBCW type from the Cluedo "Super Sleuth" boardgame (see HERE) - "the Puzzled Intellectual". Glasses, hair greying and slightly too long, bow tie, notebook, handkerchief - you just know that there is a pipe hidden somewhere - experiencing the confusion of the convinced rationalist in an age of civil strife and unreason:

28mm Cluedo figure aka "Professor Plum"
Copplestone sculpted, unknown painter.

Curiously, this figure is an almost dead ringer for Harold Nicolson, probably the best diarist of the interwar years (vying, of course, with 'Chips' Channon), and certainly a "confused intellectual" of the period:

When Mosley founded the New Party in 1931, Nicolson edited the Party's newspaper, Action, and stood as a New Party candidate for the Combined English Universities in the General Election of that year. However, Nicolson opposed Mosley's formation of the British Union of Fascists in 1932, and was elected in the 1935 General Election as the National Labour MP (i.e. a supporter of Ramsay McDonald and the National Government) for Leicester West. He was married to Vita Sackville-West, and one day we'll find a 28mm figure for her - and (of course) Virginia Woolf.

Add Edit:

(1). In fact, it didn't take that long to find a "Vita Sackville-West" figure in 28mm - 

Askari Miniatures "Marion the Librarian". Unknown painter.

GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON - THE UNTOLD STORY

In the summer of 1938, George S. Patton was a little known and deeply frustrated Colonel in the United States Army, commanding the 5th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Clark, Texas. While Patton was convinced of his own "unconventional" ideas on armoured warfare, Fort Clark was "the army's ultimate backwater, a place where old cavalry soldiers were sent to finish out their careers in peace and quiet" (D'Este, p366). 

Or so Patton's regular biographers (including the best of them, Carlo D'Este's "Patton - A Genius for War") would have it. While D'Este does record the powerful influence upon Patton of General Sir Edmund Allenby, Liberator of Jerusalem, whom he had met during the First World War:

"....Allenby had told Patton that 'for every Napoleon, Alexander, and Jesus Christ that made roles of [sic] history, there were several born. Only the lucky ones made it to the summit. He felt that in every age and time, men were born ready to serve their country and their God, but sometimes were not needed; you had to be at the right place at the right time - you had to be lucky...."

and acknowledges the depression and even despair Patton felt in 1938 at the prospect of not being involved in a major war during his active career, astonishingly to some - and notwithstanding recently discovered  (if somewhat grainy) photographic evidence - there is no mention of George S. Patton's involvement in the Hereford VBCW:

'General' George S. Patton on the road from Bromyard to Leominster, 1938 - an "Armoured Legend"

Whether Patton's presence in Herefordshire during 1938 was as a formal USA attache with the permission of General Marshall, or merely a spot of "officially unathorised leave" from his role with the 5th Cavalry, may still be a matter of academic argument. What is certain, however, is that Patton moved from a position of "observer" to "combatant" very quickly after his arrival "in County", and then reportedly with great relish - obtaining a tank from the well known VBCW "military suppliers to the gentry", Trumper and Shellgrove of New Bond Street (hence, a "TraSh Tank"), and promoting himself to "General" immediately.

As an American, Patton was obliged to retain a formal independence from any of the contending factions. However, it was always clear that Patton could never fight with the Royalists nor Albertines ("ain't no goddam patriotic American ever fought for an English King"), nor the BUF ("goddam Nazis"), and his views on the Russian backed Presteigne Communist Front were pretty much unprintable (but here goes anyway):

Slightly by default, therefore, the God-fearing Patton's usual role within the Herefordshire VBCW was as an ally of the Anglicans, and even more so as a "Senior Armoured Adviser" to the newly founded Independent Democratic Republic of Bromyard ("Goddam politics. Well, they got Democrats, see, and Republicans. Just like back in Washington, yessir..."). It is reported that Patton formed a particular friendship with Sir Alan McGuffin, Chairman of the Herefordshire Golf Club and enthusiastic proponent of the Bromyard Armoured Brigade, even finding time to learn the rudiments of golf in Sir Alan's company.

Why then has Patton's experience in the Herefordshire VBCW clearly been covered up? A favoured explanation is that Patton's subsequent rise to prominence - as a result of the Tennesee, Louisana and Carolina Armoured Manoeuvres of 1941 - had to be patriotically portrayed as a product of American genius, rather than accepted as part of Patton's experience of armoured warfare during the Hereford VBCW (and heavy borrowing from the armoured theories of the Very British Sir Alan McGuffin):

Patton during the 1941 Armoured Manoeuvres

The U.S. Army Publicity Machine gears up in Life Magazine, July 1941.
There is no mention of the Herefordshire VBCW within the article on Patton.

Thankfully, future posts on this blog will detail Patton's experiences in the VBCW, and thereby explode the many decades old conspiracy of silence:

 

Note: General George S. Patton and his "Trash" Tank constitute Umpire Clive's entry for the Modelling Challenge 2022 ("Armoured Legends") and is therefore playable as a "Free Umpire Bonus" at the Spring Big Game 2023!

CORPORATE GUARD (5) - SIR CHARLES TITE-WADDE, Bt.

And enter "The Great Commander" of the Collective Corporate Guard, none other than Sir Charles Tite-Wadde, Bt, Birmingham screw maker and night club owner. Will the Defence of Cadbury's Marlbrook make him a VBCW hero? Or consign him to history as a (possibly very dead) VBCW zero? Sir Charles makes sure that his Silver Ghost's engine is running.......

Sir Charles surveys the scene from a suitably grand position. His chauffeur and Rolls Royce
Silver Ghost (Matchbox) await, as does his bodyguards ("Knuckles" and "Fingers").
Chauffeur unknown WW1 driver, all other figures Heroclix.

SPODE UNIFORM REFERENCES

Following on from THIS POST on Edward VIII uniform references, together with THIS POST on Oswald Mosley uniform references, Roderick Spode clearly deserves a "Uniform References" post of his own:

Two stills of Spode in mid - rant : khaki tan shirt with red epaulettes, black tie, black shoulder belt, red lanyard and red brassard with "Blackshort" flash. 

Spode addresses an outdoor meeting. Black shorts and leather waist belt, tan knee-length (of course!) socks, black boots. Note drums and drummer boys, fasces on standards, bare headed followers dressed in identical style.

28mm versions - Eustace Spode, Roderick Spode's brother, with HQ Section (JP's Blackshorts)

The Blackshort "Flash" and flag was similar, but not identical to, the BUF flash and standard. Here is the Blackshort version:

 

Below - a YouTube video of a uniformed Spode and formidable section of Blackshort regulars (as interrupted by Bertie Wooster and Bentley):

SHINY STUFF SPODE

 Yes, it's that man again - Roderick Spode, Leader of the Blackshorts and 7th Earl of Sidcup:

Spode in 28mm

A recent 28mm figure from Steve Barber's Commission Range, coyly titled "Fascist Leader" but instantly recognisable. See Steve's Commission Range HERE

The Hereford VBCW Campaign is very fond of P.G.Wodehouse's comic creation (Note 1). JP, co-creator of the campaign and Wodehouse fan, has long played (amongst others) Eustace Spode, brother of Roderick, with a full "Blackshort" Platoon (including the Sidcup Highlanders):

JP's Eustace Spode and Blackshort Infantry

JPs now Veteran Blackshorts advance with Tank support

Unfortunately, as a result of the Spring Big Game 2022 ("The Fall of Leominster"), Eustace Spode is presently in Communist captivity. His notorious brother and a second force of Blackshorts (painted up from Copplestone Castings Back of Beyond British, and therefore nicknamed "Imperial Blackshorts" [note2]) were recently fielded by Rob B. - hopelessly outnumbered, however, they went down to a heavy defeat at the Autumn Big Game 2021 ("Advance to Leominster")

Rob B's Spode conversion plus Imperial Blackshorts

Spode is thought to be "on the run" in Herefordshire (and beyond), seeking to raise new forces in order to return to the fray and free his brother Eustace from the "dirty Reds". Might be time to paint up another Spode personality figure........

Notes

(1). “The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. You hear them shouting "Heil, Spode!" and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. That is where you make your bloomer. What the Voice of the People is saying is: "Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?” (The Code of the Woosters)

(2). This might also be a wordplay on "Imperial Dalek", however.....

EDWARD VIII VBCW FIGURES

Edward VIII has yet to make a personal appearance in the Hereford VBCW, although he was close to doing so at the Second Battle of Shobdon (Spring Big Game 2019). Unfortunately, there are no 28mm production figures of the King and "Queen" Wallis, only the now hard to obtain Partizan 2012 giveaway freebies -

Partizan 2012 Edward VIII

Partizan 2012 "That Woman"

The Partizan figures occasionally now turn up on Ebay, and are worth keeping an eye out for - or ignoring altogether and converting some other suitable figure. There are lots of 28mm WW1 British officer types that could form a basis for the King's "very Fascist uniform", and a few 28mm generic 1930s female types that could be converted to "a Wallis". All sorts of uniforms could be argued to be appropriate for Edward VIII:

A 1936 Print of Edward VIII in the full dress uniform
of a Field Marshall.

Another possible (unidentified) uniform for Edward VIII.
Obviously, a diplomatic reception in Buckingham Palace at the 
very start of the VBCW...

If you're not absolutely stuck on 28mm scale, Lineol did an interesting 54mm Edward VIII figure way back in 1936 (we're keen on vintage figures, quite as old as the VBCW itself)

Edward VIII in Life Guards uniform (front)

Edward VIII in Life Guards uniform (rear)

The Lineol figure would make a nice companion piece for that other "off stage/occasional presence" in the Hereford VBCW, Hailie Selassie, Emperor of Abyssinia...

Note: all pics from the web over the years. Usual T&Cs apply.........

OSWALD MOSLEY - REVOLVING !

As a post-script to the last post on Oswald Mosley uniform details, here is full detail, front and back, of the Warlord figure (from the Warlord site): a revolving Oswald Mosley! 

This may or may not have been his agitated response to news of the latest battles around Leominster.....

10th ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY VBCW FIGURE !

The Spring Big Game 2022 is the HerefordVBCW campaign's Tenth Anniversary. Yes, it really has been all of ten years since JP and Giles organised the very first Big Game ("The Battle of Ledbury") in February 2012. Although JP's blog suffered a few years ago by reason of the Great Photobucket Debacle, Rob B's blog still has a few photos of the action, including the only known shots of "those fighting Abyssinians" in Herefordshire (apparently Hailie Selassie was living in exile in Malvern at the time)...

Well, we had to mark the forthcoming occasion somehow. It's been fashionable over the last few years for every wargames show (Salute, Partisan, Hammerhead, etc. etc.) to issue an exclusive, limited edition figure to guests, so we thought we'd do a variant of that - given our campaign resources, it's not exclusive, it's not even a limited edition, but it is a FREE FIGURE for everyone coming along to the Hereford Spring Big Game 2022 (well, the first TEN through the door, anyway)....

It's that central VBCW personality, Oswald Mosley himself!

TEN Oswald Mosleys from Warlord Games - the  HerefordVBCW 10th Anniversary Free Figure

It's not too hard to work out where the Warlord sculptor took his inspiration from:

and those accustomed to playing HMG Forces may be only too pleased to paint up their free figure in the traditional colour of black - very black, with a wash and highlight of black........but what of everyone else? 

Well, given that at least one 28mm representation of Stalin has finished up as an "ice cream man" in the VBCW, the field is pretty much open - Mosley impersonators, Mosley as a figure of a fun for Anglican war bond drives, Mosley's uniform painted anything but black (green/khaki as a general, or shocking pink?). As ever with the VBCW, it's all up to you....

The usual caveats apply. First come, first served. When they're gone, they're gone. The Burley Gate Village Hall will be open around 9am-ish on Saturday 26th March 2022, so now there's even more incentive than usual to come along early to help with the set-up of terrain.....

Additional Note: the (sadly now defunct) Gentleman's Wargames Parlour post action thread on "The Battle of Ledbury" can still be found HERE.